Winning the Stanley Cup is a proud moment for an the entire organization from top to bottom, but while the players, coaching staff, and upper management get much of the publicized credit, scouting and development personnel rarely get their due praise.

Many of the supporting players who suited up for the Kings during the playoffs (Dwight King, Trevor Lewis, and Jordan Nolan up front; Slava Voynov and Alec Martinez on the back end) are Lombardi-era draft picks and have gone through a long developmental process that includes personal coaching and consultation, rookie camps, training camps, and more. While the Kings roster was also comprised of a number of free agent signings and trade acquisitions, winning a championship in the current cap era is not possible without cheap homegrown talent.… read more